IPS Employment Specialist SW Herts (Watford & Borehamwood)
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
Each Community Services Hub provides a specialist care pathway to Service Users with Non-psychotic disorders and Personality disorder. They also provide specialist care pathways to those with psychotic disorders.
Employment Support forms part of the pathways.
As the Employment Specialist (ES) for the quadrant, you will be responsible for providing Individual Placement Support (IPS) for all Service Users who are currently unemployed and express a desire to gain paid employment as part of their recovery goals. You will carry a caseload of up to 25 service users.
Main duties of the job
You will work intensively with a defined caseload of Service Users who have a severe and enduring mental health condition that impacts their ability to gain work. You will assist them in obtaining and sustaining paid employment that is consistent with their goals, utilising the eight principles of Individual Placement Support (IPS).
Job responsibilities
* To carry a caseload of Service Users who are currently off work/unemployed, receiving specialist mental health services, and who wish to return to work.
* To provide Job Retention support to those service users currently under secondary health services who are at risk of losing their job through supporting meetings and responses to Managers, Occupational Health Departments, HR departments, and Legal representatives.
* To prepare individuals for a return to work by supporting service users to understand their skills, aspirations, and goals through vocational profiling and action planning.
* Focus on rapid job search with the service user, utilising local support networks to help them overcome barriers to employment.
* Source job opportunities for service users through tailored job search and regular contact with employers.
* When placing service users with employers, ensure that the quality of work environments is explored, including potential for workplace adjustments that will accommodate individual strengths, skills, symptoms, and coping skills.
* To develop effective working relationships with a range of external agencies who might be better able to help individuals achieve their employment goals, for example, local colleges, training providers, and external supported employment services.
* To provide education and support to employers, as agreed with the individual, which may include negotiating adjustments, return to work strategy, and ongoing contact with the employer to help with any new or recurring issues in relation to mental health and job sustainability.
* To provide individualised support to service users once they have returned to work to assist them in maintaining employment.
* Meet and exceed job outcome targets for service users.
* Build a multi-disciplinary approach to the return to work, involving clinical staff (where relevant) in managing symptoms at work, medication reviews, and supporting rehabilitation needs (e.g., social skill development, budgeting, travel training).
* Contribute to the effective monitoring and evaluation of systems relating to IPS delivery within the quadrant.
Person Specification
QUALIFICATIONS/EDUCATION/TRAINING
* Educated to a degree level or equivalent.
* IPS trained.
* Additional relevant training in areas of employment, mental health, coaching.
* Job Retention Training.
PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE
* Considerable experience of working with adults with mental health difficulties in a health or social care setting.
* Significant experience working in a role delivering employment support.
* Supervision of junior staff.
* Experience of partnership working, negotiation, and liaison with other agencies.
SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE/ABILITY
* Knowledge of disability and special needs issues, policies, and legislation in relation to employment.
* Understanding of the principles and practice of IPS.
* Knowledge of employment law.
* Team-oriented and able to work collaboratively within a mixed-disciplinary team.
* Experience of opening up job opportunities with a range of employers.
* Ability to work with key IT tools such as MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS
* Ability to provide and receive sensitive information regarding service users' care and social situations.
* Ability to work effectively in a team.
* Knowledge of appropriate professional relationships and boundaries.
* Ability to negotiate and persuade prospective employers of the benefits of offering work opportunities to Service Users.
* Active listening skills and the ability to ask perceptive questions that tease out important information.
* Compelling written and verbal communication skills, tailored to a variety of audiences.
* Mentoring/Coaching Skills.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975, and as such, it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Employer name
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
£31,469 to £38,308 a year per annum pro rata (5% fringe HCAS included).
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